Machine for assembling mosaic parquet blocks



April 1, 1958 M. BAUMANN 2,828,794

MACHTNE FOR ASSEMBLING MOSAIC PARQUET BLOCKS v Filed Sept. 22, 1955 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

, IN V EN TOR. rm F1 5 30v m/ April 1, 1958 M. BAQUMANN 2,828,794

MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING MOSAIC PARQUET BLOCKS Filed Sept. 22, 1955 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.

INVENTOR. rm/v FRED Baa/m April 1, 1958 M. BAUMANN 2,828,794

' MACHINE-FOR ASSEMBLING MOSAIC PARQUET BLOCKS Filed Sept. 22; 1955 sSheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. NfiNF/FEP .a/w/mm United States Fatent OMACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING MOSAIC PARQUET BLOCKS Manfred Banmann, St.Margrethen, Switzerland, assignor to Bauwerk A. G., St. Margrethen,Switzerland, a Swiss company Application September 22, 1955, Serial No.535,936

Claims priority, application Switzerland September 24, 1954 10 Claims.(Cl. 154-1.6)

The kind of floor known as a mosaic parquet, which consists of a numberof small wooden strips not directly connected to one another, isgenerally, with a view to being subsequently laid in a building,prepared on the manufacturers premises by the assembly of small woodenstrips into a pattern, the strips so assembled being then connectedtogether by means of a sheet of paper or other suitable means. In thepast this assembly of the individual wooden strips has been performedalmost exclusively by manual labor, the individual wooden strips,

preferably of rectangular shape, being assembled in different directionsin order to impart a pleasing appearance to the finished floor. Apattern of chess-board type, in which a specific number of strips withtheir graindirections parallel are assembled into squares, the squaresthen being laid side by side with their respective graindirectionsoffset by 90", is very popular.

The object of the present invention is a machine characterized by thefact that the individual wooden strips are conveyed by two feed devices,which are approximately at right angles to each other, to a gate portionwhose positively controlled gates open the exit from the feed devicesfor a certain number of strips at a time in the sequence necessary forthe assembly of the desired mosaic pattern.

A typical embodiment of the machine is illustrated in the annexeddrawing, in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of the machine,

Fig. 2 is a view in the direction of the arrow a in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line II in Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a plan view of an alternative machine in which one conveyorbelt is used to carry away the strips fed by two conveyor belts,

Fig. is a view taken in the direction of the arrow b in Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is a section of the common conveyor belt according to Fig. 4, and

Fig. 7 is a plan view of another alternative machine in which a table isused as the common conveying means for the strips.

Conveyor belts 1 and 2, running over rollers 1a and 2a, lead frommachines or strip discharge stations (Figs. 1 and 2) to shaking devices3 and 4 or other suitable strip feed means in which the strips arealigned by channels 5 formed by ribs 4b and are discharged on toconveyor belts 6 and 7 in a position transverse to the centerlines ofsaid belts. Said shaking devices are disposed between at least one stripdischarge station and one conveyor belt each. One of said conveyorbelts, 7, leads via rollers 7a to the block assembly device 8, while theconveyor belt 6 abuts the conveyor belt 7 via rollers 6a at an at leastapproximately right angle between the block assembly device 8 and theshaking device 3. A gate 10 is disposed above the conveyor belt 7, andthe conveyor belt 6 is blocked by the gate 11. The flow of strips 12 and13, which lie on the belt transversely to the centerline thereof and insuch a manner as to be ICC freely displaceable thereupon, is arrested orreleased by the alternate opening and closing of the gates 10 and 11.The gates 10 and 11 can be controlled through control devices inaccordance with av specific rhythm so that, as is shown, the alternatesquares of strips conveyed from the common region adjacent the dischargeportions of the belts 6 and 7 to the assembly device 8 by part 7b of theconveyor belt 7 are disposed transversely and longitudinally of saidbelt, respectively. In the assembly of the individual blocks or squaresinto a composite block of sixteen squares, it is necessary that the lastsquare in every group of four squares should be aligned in the samedirection as the firstsquare in the group of four squares succeeding iton the conveyor belt. If a block consisting of, for example, sixteensquares of strips is assembled on the assembly device 8, then through agear not shown in the drawing the group is pushed forward on theassembly device by a pusher 15 and a sheet of paper is glued over it sothat the strips are held together. For this purpose a paper spool 16,paper feed rollers 17, gluing rollers 18 and cutting-01f knives 19 areprovided alongside the assembly device 8 and are set in operationthrough a gear not shown in the drawing, by the operation of a pedal 20by the operator, to coat the underside of a strip of paper with glue andcut it to the desired length. Said strip of paper, coated with glue onits underside, is applied to the blocks by the operator, whereupon theassembled composite mosaic block 22 is discharged under elastic press-uprollers 23 by the pusher 15 on to an automatically lowered stackingtable 24.

Fig. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a strip feeding means in the formof a shaking table. The strips 12 are raised by means of the conveyorbelt 2 from a machine or discharge station and fall on to the shakerplate 4a. Said plate is loosely attached to the frame 26 by means ofsprings 25, so that it can be shaken by a vibrator not shown in thedrawing. The shaker plate 4a is provided with ribs 4b forming thechannels 5 in which the strips are aligned in a direction transverse tothe conveyor belt and are transferred to the conveyor belt 6 via thetransfer plate 27 at the lower end of the shaker plate 4a.

Instead of only two conveyor belts, it is also possible to use a largernumber of conveyor belts converging upon one such belt.

An alternative embodiment of the machine is shown in Figs. 4 to 7.

The strips are brought up by the conveyor belt 31 and by the conveyorbelt 32 approaching said belt at a right angle. Between said twoconveyor belts is disposed at common conveyor belt 33 which merelyreceives squares of strips from the two conveyor belts and conveys themto the collecting table 34, said conveyor belt 33 moving intermittently.

Said conveyor belt 33 is provided at both edges, over a distance equalto the length of one square of strips, with stops 37 to 40 arranged insuch a manner that they permit the forward feed of strips from belt 31,at the same time blocking the feed of strips from belt 32, and viceversa. By means of the pushers 35 and 36 squares of strips are fedalternately on to the conveyor belt 33, which moves forward by paceseach equal to the length of one square. As each successive group of foursquares of strips used for the formation of a block of sixteen squareshas a different sequence of longitudinally and transversely alignedsquares, the stops must be arranged accordingly, that is to say in sucha manner that on the side of the belt that is the left side in thedirection of travel the stops 37 and 38 permit the charging of thetransversely aligned strips and on the right-hand side of the belt thestops 39 and 40 permit the charging of Patented Apr. 1, 1958 the stripsaligned in the direction of conveyance, from belt 32. If the firstsequence terminates with a square of transversely aligned strips, thenthe next sequence likewise begins with a square of transversely alignedstrips, the following sequence being thereby yielded: ll- 1 1 1ll -1-111- and so forth. Four squares at a time are discharged by a pusher 42on to the block assembly device or table 34, on which sixteen individualblocks or squares of strips are joined together into a composite blockby the gluing on of a sheet of paper or the like.

Belts 31 and 33 are led over the common roller 43, which is given arotary pacing motion by means not shown;

Fig. 6 shows a longitudinal sectional view of a part of the belt 33 inwhich the groups of stops 37 and 38 and 39 and 40 respectively aremounted. The movement of the pushers 35 and 36, which must likewise takeplace in accordance with the aforesaid rhythm, may be elfected by apressure medium controlled by a control instrument and acting upon apiston, none of these instrumentalities being shown.

A further alternate embodiment is illustrated in Fig. 7. In thisembodiment the conveyor belt 33 is replaced by a pusher 4-5 which pushesforward the squares of strips discharged by the pushers 35 and 36 on tothe common conveyor table 46. This embodiment necessitates the use ofstops 4? which arrest or release the supply from belt 32. Said stops 47,andthe pushers 35, 36 and 45 may likewise be operated by apressuremedium or electrically through a control instrument.

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention and it is intended that suchobvious changes and modifications be embraced by the annexed claims.

aving thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent, is:

l. A machine for assembling mosaic parquet blocks from strips,comprising the combination with first and second strip-transportingconveyor means arranged substantially at right angles to one another andhaving their strip-discharging portions located adjacent a region commonto both said conveyor means, of first and second shaking meanspositioned adjacent the strip-receiving portions of said first andsecond conveyor means, respcctively, each of said shaking means beingconstructed to parallelize strips disposed thereon and to transfer thesame in parallel condition to the associated conveyor means for movementthereby to said common region with the longitudinal axes of said stripson the respective conveyor means extending transversely to the directionof motion of said respective conveyor means, a block assembly device,third conveyor means extending from said region common to said first andsecond conveyor means to said block assembly device for transferringsaid strips to the latter from said common region, and first and secondoperating means controlled in accordance with a predetermined number ofsaid strips intended to constitute each parquet block and arranged toalternately permit transfer of further strips from said first and secondconveyor means, respectively, to said common region and said thirdconveyor means after said predetermined number of strips has beentransferred to said third conveyor means from the respective first andsecond conveyor means.

2. A machine according to claim 1, said first and second conveyor meanscomprising two continuously moving conveyor belts, said strips beingdisposed on said belts transversely to the respective center linesthereof.

3. A machine according to claim 1, each of said shaltingmeans comprisinga vibratory conveyor defining a plurality of parallel channels at itsend adjacent the associated first and second conveyor means, saidchannels receiving strips transported along said vibratory conveyor 1and aligning said strips in parallel relation for transfer to saidassociated conveyor means.

4. A machine according to claim 1, said third conveyor means beingconstituted by an extension of one of said first and second conveyormeans, whereby said common region is the intersection of said first andsecond conveyor means, and pusher means displaceable transversely to thedirection of movement of said third conveyor means for displacing aplurality of said blocks of strips simultaneously from said thirdconveyor means onto said assembly device.

5. A machine according to claim 1, further comprising a sheet materialfeed unit positioned adjacent said assembly device for dispensing areach of sheet material over said parquet blocks when positioned on saidassembly device, means for applying glue to that surface of said sheetmaterial disposed for contact with said blocks, whereby said sheetmaterial may be glued to a group of said blocks, and a self-loweringstacking unit positioned adjacent said assembly device for sequentiallyreceiving groups of blocks glued to said sheet material.

6. A machine according to claim 1, said third conveyor means comprisinga separate conveyor table extending parallel to one of said first andsecond conveyor means and transversely to the other of said first andsecond conveyor means, said first and second operating means comprisingfirst and second pusher means for alternately transfening respectivegroups of strips from said first and second conveyor means to saidcommon region, respectively, and said third conveyor means furthercomprising additional pusher means for transferring said groups ofstrips sequentially from said common region to said conveyor table.

7. A machine according to claim 1, said third conveyor means extendingat least partly along one of said first and second conveyor means andarranged for stepwise movement in the direction of said assembly device.

8. A machine according to claim 7, said third conveyor means comprisinga conveyor belt provided along its opposite sides with stops, the stopson each side of said conveyor belt being spaced from one another andstaggered with respect to the stops on the opposite side of saidconveyor belt.

9. A machine for assembling mosaic parquet blocks from strips,comprising the combination with first and second strip transportingconveyor means having strip receiving portions and arrangedsubstantially at right angles to one another and having their stripdischarging portions located adjacent a region common to both saidconveyor means, of strip feeding means positioned adjacent said stripreceiving portions of said first and second conveyor means,respectively, said strip feeding means being constructed to directstrips disposed thereon and to transfer the same in substantiallyparallel relationship to each other onto the associated conveyor meansfor movement thereby to said common region with the longitudinal axes ofsaid strips on the respective conveyor means extending transversely tothe direction of motion of said respective conveyor means, a blockassembly device, third conveyor means extending from said region commonto said first and second conveyor means to said block assembly devicefor transierring said strips to the latter from said common region, andfirst and second operating means controlled in accordance with apredetermined number of said strips intended to constitute each parquetblock and arranged to alternately permit transfer of further strips fromsaid first and second conveyor means, respectively, to said commonregion and said third conveyor means after said predetermined number ofstrips has been transferred to said third conveyor means from therespective first and second conveyor means.

10. A machine for assembling mosaic parquet blocks from strips,comprising the combination with first and sec-.

ond strip transportin conveyor means having strip receiving portions andarranged substantially at right angles to one another and having theirstrip discharging portions located adjacent a region common to both saidconveyor means, of strip feeding means positioned adjacent said stripreceiving portions of said first and second conveyor means,respectively, said strip feeding means being constructed to support thestrips disposed thereon and to transfer the same in parallelrelationship to each other onto the associated conveyor means formovement thereby to said common region with the longitudinal axes ofsaid strips on the respective conveyor means extending transversely tothe direction of motion of said respective conveyor means, a blockassembly device, third conveyor means extending from said region commonto said first and second conveyor means to said block assembly devicefor transferring said strips to the latter from said common region,first and second operating means controlled in accordance with apredetermined number of said strips intended to constitute eachindividual parquet block and arranged to alternately permit transfer offurther strips from said first and second conveyor means, respectively,to 20 pensing a reach of sheet material over a predetermined I number ofsaid individual parquet blocks when positioned on said assembly device,whereby said sheet material may be secured to said predetermined numberof individual parquet blocks to thereby form a composite parquet blockunit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,491,335 Childers Apr. 22, 1924 1,724,764 Jones et al. Aug. 13, 19292,401,648 Kahr June 4, 1946 2,713,380 Baumann July 19, 1955 2,725,910Kahr Dec. 6, 1955

